Zinkia Unveils Coloring with Pocoyo and Friends App for IPad

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Press Release from Zinkia

Madrid, Spain (22 December, 2010) - Just in time for the holidays, entertainment brand specialist Zinkia Entertainment is releasing its second Pocoyo application, specifically designed for the iPad, “Coloring with Pocoyo and Friends.”  The new app, available in English and Spanish, debuts as the Company’s first “Pocoyize” app exceeds 10 million downloads via the web, and 550,000 downloads via the iPhone.  The announcement was made today by Maria Doolan, MD, Brand and Business Development, Zinkia Entertainment.

The new “Coloring with Pocoyo and Friends” app can be downloaded globally, exclusively from the iTunes/App Store to the iPad, iPhone® or iPod Touch® for US $1.99, for an initial 60-day period from December 21, 2010. The application will provide children, parents and caregivers the opportunity to let their imaginations run wild as they paint Pocoyo and his friends’ coloring pages, experimenting with creativity and color as they let their inner artists out. New sets of coloring pages will be available on demand via the app.  This latest app is a natural extension of the Pocoyo brand which has consistently garnered strong interaction with fans of all ages across the globe.  Downloading the application provides seven days premium access to the Premium Club at pocoyworld.com, Pocoyo’s virtual world online destination.

Initially released for Christmas 2009 for the web, the “Pocoyize” app has seen significant growth in the last six months alone, with web users increasing from 6 million in June 2010 to 10 million this month.  In June 2010, the Company unveiled the “Pocoyize” app for the iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad, which to date has received over 550,000 downloads, in addition to being a Top 5 seller in both Spain and Japan. Available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish, the “Pocoyize” app allows users to create personalized Pocoyo-style avatars. Completed creations can be used as iPhone profile pictures, sent to friends, or posted on social networking sites such as Facebook.

Pocoyo’s online fan base is spiralling rapidly. To date:

There have been 350 million hits on YouTube—a 169% increase since June 2010 when 150 million visits were registered.  Of these, 4 million hits monthly are from the U.S., a 5600% increase since January 2010 when there were 70,000 hit monthly.

The Pocoyoworld.com virtual world has attracted over 11 million unique visitors—a 144% increase since June 2010 when there were 4.5 million unique visits.

The official Facebook® page has over 250,000 fans—a 152% increase since June 2010 when the page had 99,000 fans. 2,500 fans are now signing up daily.

The authorized Pocoyo blog, (www.pocoyo.blogs.com [1]), available in English, Japanese, Chinese and Spanish, has attracted a total of 4 million unique visitors—100% increase since June 2010.

There have been 33 million visitors to the official Pocoyo website (www.pocoyo.com [2])

Most recently, the official Nokia store registered 370,000 wallpaper downloads in the first two weeks of launching, with particularly strong figures in Asia. Also the new Nokia app Pocoyo TV, which allows viewers to watch and buy episodes, has received thousands of downloads.

“From the outset, Zinkia understood the benefits of using the internet to develop the Pocoyo brand, and episodes were uploaded by Zinkia to YouTube,” commented Doolan. “It’s now clear that with Pocoyo’s multi-platform concept and simple bold design, we can easily adapt the brand to any interactive environment, whether it be the Internet, mobile phone or games console, with great demand and enthusiasm from our fans.”

The online success coincides with the Fall 2010 debut of an extensive toy line by Bandai America Incorporated, the master toy licensee for Pocoyo in the United States and Canada.  Featuring characters from the multi-award winning animated series, Bandai’s toys capture the vibrant and exuberant world of Pocoyo and his animal friends for preschool children ages one through three, encouraging them to learn through laughter.  The toys are available at retailers including Toys“R”Us, Toysrus.com [3] and Amazon.com. The toy line includes Mini-Plush, Sqeeze n’ Play Plush, Bath Figures, Pocoyo Water Taxi and the Bump n’ Go car.

Following the adventures of three-year-old Pocoyo, the CGI television series brings children into the bright world of an inquisitive and fun-loving boy and his animal friends, Elly (the elephant), Pato (the duck) and Loula (the dog).  Co-produced by Zinkia and ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment, the international smash hit series Pocoyo, which has been broadcast in over 100 territories worldwide, has gained a large following of young fans in the United States with episodes airing daily at 4:25 pm on Nick Jr., Nickelodeon’s 24-hour commercial-free, educational preschool network in the United States, as well as airing on PBS, Univision and Discovery Familia. Pocoyo is available on DVD from NCircle Entertainment.